Sai Baba of Shirdi is a phenomenon. In all of India s history, there has never been another like him. He is no conventional saint, he wrote no critique of any holy work, made no ashram or peetham, yet he had profound insight into both Hindu and Islamic scriptures. He performed miracles but in no manner or means to impress anyone, devotees or otherwise. Sai Baba in every way remains unique. He came in his late twenties to Shirdi, an insignificant Hamlet in Ahmednagar District where he spent fifty years of his remaining life. Shirdi is no longer an obscure village. Today it is a centre of pilgrimage for lakhs of Sai Baba s devotees. This book translated into Hindi is a complete account of his life and mission.Hindi Rs. 95 / Telugu Rs. 125

This book tells the life story of the Baba legendary Indian saint Shirdi Sai Baba, through the words of Sri Kaleshwar, one of India's most highly respected spiritual leaders. It shares the deep hidden meaning of this great soul's divine life and actions. Sri Kaleshwar says, "In my meditation visions, I saw the major things Baba did in his life, like a movie. Any person can see a soul's life through the power channels. He was a simple character, enjoying the divine fragrance of his life. It's one of the best divine stories ever written. It's a blockbuster movie." Living as an outcast on the outskirts of Shirdi for eighteen years before spending the rest of his life in a dilapidated temple he named Dwarkamai, Shirdi Sai Baba lived as a simple beggar while performing miraculous healings and taking the pain and suffering of the whole globe. "I am Grandfather to all people," he said, "Whoever calls me heartfully, I am there. I will take care of you wherever you are." Shirdi Baba's life demonstrated the unity of all religions. No one knew which religion he belonged to. He was revered by Hindus, Muslims and Christians alike. He said, "All human beings are one. Our religion is humanity, God is one."

Nearly a century after his death, the image of Sai Baba, the serene old man with the white beard from Shirdi village in Maharashtra, India, is instantly recognizable to most South Asians (and many Westerners) as a guru for all faiths--Hindus, Muslims, and others. During his lifetime Sai Baba accepted all followers who came to him, regardless of religious or caste background, and preached a path of spiritual enlightenment and mutual tolerance. These days, tens of thousands of Indians and foreigners make the pilgrimage to Shirdi each year, and Sai Baba temples have sprung up in unlikely places around the world, such as Munich, Seattle, and Austin. Tracing his rise from small village guru to global phenomenon, religious studies scholar Karline McLain uses a wide range of sources to investigate the different ways that Sai Baba has been understood in South Asia and beyond and the reasons behind his skyrocketing popularity among Hindus in particular. Shining a spotlight on an incredibly forceful devotional movement that avoids fundamental politics and emphasizes unity, service, and peace, The Afterlife of Sai Baba is an entertaining--and enlightening--look at one of South Asia's most popular spiritual gurus.

A vast and diversified religious movement originating from Sai Baba of Shirdi, is often referred to as "the Sai Baba movement." Through the chronological presentation of Sai Baba's life, light is shed on the various ways in which the important guru figures in this movement came to be linked to the saint of Shirdi.

For the sick, the troubled and the oppressed Shirdi in Maharashtra was the place to go. It was where Sai Baba’s all-encompassing love made them feel better, happier and more at peace. He could reveal himself as the Supreme Deity and yet assume the form of a street dog, turn water into oil and save a child miles away from burning flames. However, by the time he left this world in 1918, he had also made thousands understand that good acts are the only miracle needed to find God.

This book provides an assessment of Shirdi Sai Baba, taking into account both the Muslim Sufi and Hindu components of his biography. The author has integrated the available materials without neglecting some frequently overlooked details and supporting data. Many people look at Shirdi Sai Baba as a unifying force between Hindus and Muslims, while others see him as representing only one religious identity. This book covers these points in great detail. In eighty chapters, the sources are analysed to portray diverse events of the saint's life, and to profile many of his devotees. Employing the accounts of Dabholkar, Narasimhaswami, and other key commentators, the treatment investigates numerous obscure situations, besides other more well known occurrences. The author maintains that, despite some hagiology appearing in the sources, there is sufficient evidence for realistic biographical dimensions, more especially during the last ten years of the saint's life, when a large number of visitors arrived at Shirdi. Shirdi Sai Baba (d.1918) is one of the most important latter day Indian saints. He lived an ascetic existence as a faqir in a rural mosque. He is distinctive for a universalist attitude, bypassing religious dogma. The teachings of Sai Baba employed allusion and parable, and are not typical of the traditions associated with him. Some complexities of this matter are addressed in a separate chapter. The book is annotated and fully indexed.